‘We’re not prepared for ISIS-style attacks,’ say Gardaí

Trade union reps for Ireland’s Garda sergeants and inspectors have heard at their annual conference in Mayo that Irish police would run around like “headless chickens” if there was an international terrorist bomb in Ireland.

Delegates heard that so-called ‘frontline’ gardaí police do not have the necessary knowledge, instruction or direction to respond to an international terrorist event.

Garda Sergeant Liam Corcoran, from Tipperary, said garda management had not provided officers with the information, training and equipment they needed to help them defend themselves and the people they served.

27/01/2016. Clashes with the police. Pictured are protesters having confrontations with the gardai as they tried to stop the car of the Taoiseach Enda Kenny leaving after he attended the New National Skills Strategy in Blackrock Further Education Institute. Photo: RollingNews.ie

The Irish Independent’s veteran and widely respected security editor Tom Brady quoted an unnamed delegate as telling the conference: “What would you do if a terrorist bomb exploded on our main thoroughfares tomorrow or if there was an attack with chemical or biological weapons at a large-scale public event such as an All-Ireland final in Croke Park?

“I’ll tell you what you’d do – panic, panic and panic. We’d be like headless chickens.

“We, the people here today and our frontline colleagues, would not have a clue where to start, what plan to put in place or how to investigate.”